Elastic-fluid turbine.



W. J. A. LONDON.

ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 19, 1911.

Patented July 18, 1911 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wblmwoao:

may) Q I W. J. A. LONDON.

ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19,1911.

998,019. Patented July 18,1911.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-TEE.

WILLIAM JAMES. ALBERT LONDON,

or HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, assrenoaro run OF CON NECTIGUT.

ELASTIC-FLUID TURBINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented an is, 1911.

Application filed May 1 1911. Serial No. 628,164.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WI LIAM J. A. LON- DON, a citizen of Great Britain,residing at Hartford,county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, U. S..A., have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elastic-FluidTurbines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relatesto. elastic .fluid turbines and has for its mainobject. the provision of mechanism for safeguarding the turbine againstin ury by the automatic sounding of awarning signal in the event of anabnormal pressure within the turbine casing.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, diagrammaticin character, on a reduced scale of part of a turbine equipped with myimproved safety apparatusz F igu-EZ. is a relatively enlarged View,partly in section, of a modification. Fi 3 is a similar viewof anothermodification. Fig. 4 is a view on a'still larger scale/of anothermodificati0n. p

1 represents the external casing of a turbine; 2 represents. the mainexhaust pipe; 3 represents a controlling valve in the exhaust tube; 4.represents a relief pipe made up as desired and lea ding from theinterior of the casing 1 to the free side of the exhaust.

.5represents the casing of, 'what I will term, apressure-controlled-check-valve, relati-vely enlarged views of thevalvepro er being shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The va ve in these figuresis in all instances substantially the same and is. indicated by thenumeral 6. 7 is a spring rovided to hold said valve closed or seatedagainst the outflow of fluid excepting as at such times as the pressureback of the valve 3' in the region of the relief pipe 4 may rise to' apoint beyond that adapted to be resisted by the means for holding thevalve 6 closed, when, at such period, said valve opens, therebyrelieving the pressure within the casing l. 8 (Fig. 1) conventionallyrepresents a signaling device, in this. instance av Whistle, the samebeing in communication with the relief pipe 1 and preferably at a pointbetween the valve 5 likewise operate only when'the pressure to open theand'the casing 1. This whistle may.

rises toa point corresponding substantially to the pressure at which thevalved opens, so that simultaneously with the opening of said valve, or,if desired, slightlyin advance thereof, said whistle purpose of causingan alarm towarn the atwill lac-blown for the tenda-nt thatthepredetermined pressure has been reached. Q

In Fig. 4, 8 represents a'whistle which is controlled directly by themovement of the valve 6. In this instance the valve 6'has a stem 9 whichis mounted in a relatively long guide 10, and said stem is cut away asat l1.

12 is a duct which penetrates the valve stem guide 10 at apointpreferably sl-i htl above the reduced part 11 of the. valve iant whenthe valve is seated. 14 is a duct which penetrates said valve stem guide10 preferably at a point adjacent to the reduced portion' 11 of thevalvestem when said valve is seated. The valve stem accordingly operatesas a valve in the whistle circuit. The

' duct 14 may lead, asdoes the reliefv pipe ,4,

to the casing 1', or indeed, toa source of compressed air. Fromtheforegoingit follows that when pressure within the casing 1 rises to apoint s'ufiicient to open the valve. 6, said operation will take placeand simultaneously the valve stem will be moved to a position whistlecircuitwhereby, and at which time, the whistle warning will. be sounded.

In Fig. 2; I'have shown a'modification in which 8 represents theWhistle, the same beirg directly connected by a pipe 15 with the exhaust2*, preferably back of the valve therein. 16 represents a valve inthewhistle pipe 15. 17 represents a spring-controlledlever connected bya link 18 and arm 19 with the valve 16. When the lever 17 is in theposition shown in F ig. 2, the whistle pipe 15 is closed. The lever" 17is held in this position against the tension of'the spring 20 by thetrigger 21. .In this instance, the valve stem 10" co -acts with thetrigger 21 in such a manner asto trip the'trigger and release the lever17 Whenever the valve 6 opens.

Upon releasing the lever l'Z, the spring .20

moves the stem in a direction to. open the valve 16, whereby the whistlewarning will l ounded. 1

In Fig. 3 I have shown an equivalent arrangement of that shown inFig. 2,in which, instead of providing a whistle "Warning, I have provided analarm bell 23, the same being operated in any suitable manner, forexample, by an electric battery 25. 26-.27 are circuit wires. 28 is alever moved in any suitable manner, as by a spring 29, which lever 28operates as a circuit closer when released, that is, when it stands inthe position indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 3. 30 is a trigger operatedin the same manner as the trigger 21, illustrated in Fig. 2. When thetrigger 30 is moved to releasethe lever 28, the spring moves the latterin a' directionto close the bell circuit, whereupon the bell 24: willsound the warning and the attendant is called to attend to theapparatus.

It will be seen by the foregoing that the above means will provide forthe safeguarding of the operation of an engine of the type referred toby insuring against danger of accident or explosion due to pressurebeing built up higher than the predetermined pressure. Obviously, theexhaust past the alarm valve 6 may lead into the main exhaust or to acondenser, or indeed, into the open, it being immaterial-so long as aproper outlet is aflord d. Obviously, the warning may be sounded by awhistle or hell, as shown, or by any other suitable alarm device capableof operating with certainty and efficiency described.

in connection with the apparatus that there are many details It isobvious of a turbine engine construction which are well understood thatI have deemed it'unnecessary to illustrate or describeherein, since Iappreciate that any of the wellknown apparatus of the prior art may beassociated with the apparatus diagrammatically shown herein without theexercise of invention, and indeed, without requiring disclosure herein.

What I claim is:

1. In a safety apparatus for turbine engines, a turbine casing, anexhaust, means for controlling the flow of motive fluid through theexhaust, a relief pipe leading from the interior of said casing, apressurecontrolled-check-valve in said relief pipe operable by thepressure within the casing above a predetermined limit, and an alarmdevice also controlled by a rise in pressure within said turbine casingabove a predetermined limit.

I 2. In a safety apparatus for turbine en gines, a turbine casing, anexhaust, a valve therein, a relief pipe leading from the interior of thespace at one side'of said valve to the interior of the exhaust at theother side of the valve, a check-valve in said relief pipe, and an alarmcontrollable by said check-valve.

3. In a safety apparatus for turbine eneeaoie hes a turbine casin avalved exhaust a relief pipe communicating with the interior of theturbine back of the valve in said exhaust, apressure-controlled-check-valve in said' relief pipe, means to open saidvalve when the pressure back of the valve in the exhaust rises'above apredetermined limit, and an alarm device also controlled by a rise inpressure back of said valved exhaust when the same exceeds apredetermined limit.

4. In a safety apparatus for turbine engines, a turbine casing, a valvedexhaust, a relief pipe communicating with the interior of the turbineback of the valve in said exhaust, a pressure-controlledcheck-valve insaid r'eliefpipe, means to open said valve when the pressure back of thevalve in the exhaust rises above a predetermined limit, an alarm devicealso controlled by a rise in pressure. back'of said valved exhaust whenthe same exceeds a predetermined limit, and means between-the valve insaid relief pipe and said alarm whereby the operation of the latter iscontrolled by the operation of the former.

5. In a safety apparatus for turbine engines, a turbine casing, a valvedexhaust, a relief pipe communicating with the interior of the turbineback of the valve in said exhaust, a pressure controlled-check-valve insaid relief pi-pe, means to open said valve when the pressure back ofthe valve in the exhaust rises above a predetermined limit, a'nalarmdevice also controlled by a rise in pressure back the same exceeds apredetermined limit, and

' means between the valve in said relief pipe and said alarm whereby theoperation of the latter is controlled by the operationof' the former,said alarm comprising a whistle, said means comprising a valved ductleading to said whistle from a source of fluid pressure.

6. In a safety apparatus for turbine engines, a turbine casing, a valvedexhaust, a relief pipe communicating with the interior of the turbineback of. the valve in said exhaust, a 'pressure-controlled-check-valvein said relief pipe, means to open said valve when-the pressure back ofthe valve in the exhaust rises above a predetermined limit, an alarmdevice also controlled by a rise in pressure back of said valved exhaustwhen the same exceeds a predetermined limit, and.

means between the valve in said relief pipe and said alarm whereby theoperation of the latter is controlled by the operation of the former,said alarm comprising a whistle, said means comprising a valved ductlead ing to said whistle from a source of fluid pressure,

duct. g

7. In a safety apparatus forturbine enthe stem of thepressure-controlled valve constituting the valve for said whistle,

gines, a turbine casing, a valved exhaust said turbine easing exceeds apredetermined therefor a ressure-controlled-relief-valve limit.

operable by the fluid pressure Within said casing when the same exceedsa predeter- WILLIAM JAMES ALBERT D mined' limit, an alarm deviceassociated Witnesses: therewith, and means for automatically op- JOHN D.STOUT,

erating the same When the pressure within EDWARD T. FITZ-GERALD

